


Over the Treetops and Mountains

by lightningsmcqueen



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gravity Falls
Genre: Gravity Falls AU, M/M, Multi, im adding tags as they become relevant to the plot alksjdnfjf, my first multi-chapter fic oop, there WILL be korrasami later in like ch3 i PROMISE im just setting things up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26668486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningsmcqueen/pseuds/lightningsmcqueen
Summary: Mako and Bolin are sent to a small town in Oregon to spend the summer with their Grandma Yin. Yin lives in a rundown tourist trap and runs it with her two moody workers. Mako isn't expecting much from this summer, but when he finds a mysterious book in the woods, he thinks that maybe things won't be as awful as he thought.
Relationships: Bolin & Mako (Avatar), Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 96





	1. Grandma's a Scammer

**Author's Note:**

> @eastaustraliancurrent has made some art for this au on her art tumblr (@eacart) so go check it out bc i'd die for it and it's cute

When they're told by their parents that they’re going to spend the summer with their grandma, Mako and Bolin are both skeptical. They haven’t seen the lady for years, and from what they know she’s a weird recluse in some little town in the woods in Oregon. Their parents see them off at the bus station, and Mako rolls his eyes while swatting away his mother’s hands as she adjusts his shirt and scarf for the umpteenth time. The bus ride down is uneventful; Bolin sleeps on Mako for most of it, and Mako plays games on his DS until it dies and then spends the time counting the trees out the window as they whizz past. He tries playing the license plate game, but it just isn’t any fun on his own. 

Their grandma picks them up from the bus stop in a rusty pick-up truck and the boys are forced to sit in the back due to the space upfront being used for brochures and knickknacks. Mako complains as he throws his bags in and climbs in after them, loudly discussing how unsafe he finds this. Bolin clambers in after Mako and laughs, telling Mako to calm down. Mako believes Grandma Yin is either purposefully driving over every pothole in town or she seriously needs to get her eyesight evaluated because he’s bouncing all over the place. He clings to his bags and watches with fear as Bolin stands up and spreads his arms wide. Bolin turns to smile at him, leaning over the edge of the truck, and Mako believes at that moment that he really might return home as an only child.

Grandma Yin’s house doubles as a tourist trap. She refuses to call it a trap for a few minutes before slipping up and calling it one herself. Bolin is half-listening to what she’s saying, too busy looking at the “mystical snow globe without snow.” 

“Mako, look at this!” He waves it in front of Mako’s face.

“That’s just water, Bo.” Mako then turns to Grandma Yin and repeats what he’s just said, “That’s just water, Grandma.” 

She waves him off and grabs the snowless snow globe out of Bolin’s hands and carefully places it back on the shelf next to another fifteen identical ones. Grandma Yin then explains to them that sure, this isn't the most morally upright way to run a business, but it is _efficient_. Mako supposes that’s the end of that, because Grandma Yin shuffles to the back of the room, signaling for them to follow her out. 

“She’s grumpy.” Bolin sighs as he walks in front of Mako.

“You would be too if you live alone in the woods.” Mako counters.

Grandma Yin halts in front of them, causing Mako to bump into Bolin. She turns towards the boys, and Mako realizes he had thought her hearing would be as bad as her eyesight but he’s apparently wrong. 

“I _wish_ I was alone out here! I’ve got tourists passing through all the time, and the two other people that work here.” She rolls her eyes as if thinking about the tourists and her workers pains her. 

“And us!” Bolin chirps up and she gives them a begrudging smile.

“Yes, Bolin, and you.”

Grandma Yin spends the rest of the tour showing them her weird exhibits and Mako feels less like he’s her grandson being shown around where he’ll be living, and more like an employee going through training. She tells them what they can and can’t touch, and if someone asks a question about the price of something, you always say it’s higher than what’s really on the price tag if they’re using cash.

They slowly weave their way up to the attic room that Mako and Bolin will be sleeping in for the rest of summer. The door blends into the wall almost completely, the wood from the door matches the wooden walls extremely well. Bolin is already sweating, and Mako feels bad for his brother, he’s never been able to deal with heat as well as Mako has. Grandma Yin opens the door for them and it creaks as it slowly opens. 

The boys step into the room and a wave of cold air hits them immediately, and Mako shivers. The two beds in the room are both made of wood with a worn-in mattress on top of them, the only difference is that one bed has a headboard and the other doesn’t. Both the beds have light and dark green stitchwork quilts with matching pillows. There’s a small window between the two beds with a table underneath it; the table has a layer of dust on it with an old clock-radio and a lantern, also covered in dust. The floor looks like it’s been swept recently, and there’s a yellow rug on the ground between the beds that looks like it’s been around for a while, and a cork in the floorboard next to it covering up a hole. The beam that runs along the vaulted ceiling has several lightbulbs in it, but they’re all foggy and dim.

“This is so _cool_!” Bolin exclaims as he runs over to the bed with the headboard and throws his stuff onto it. Mako flinches, worried for a moment that the bed will break.

“Thank you, Grandma,” Mako says as he gently hangs his scarf up on one of the randomly placed hooks on the wall. The wall is angled and Mako doesn’t understand why there are hooks because everything is going hang wonky, but if they’re there, he’ll use them. 

“I don’t know if you two are hungry, but I’m not really a chef, so there’s some kid food in the freezer downstairs.” Grandma Yin tells them as they look around the room. 

“Kid food?” Bolin’s head pops up from looking under the bed.

“Dinosaur nuggets. Go-gurts. Juice boxes. Y’know, kid stuff.” 

“You put… juice boxes in the freezer?” Mako asks, pausing reaching up for the window to turn around and look at his grandma. 

“I wanted them cold for you kids.” She huffs out and Mako blinks at her and then slightly smiles at her. “Don’t look at me like that, I just want you guys to feel at home here, that’s all.” 

“Thanks, Grandma!” Bolin beams at her from his bed.

“I’m gonna go downstairs now, but if you need anything I’ll be watching TV so just yell.” She waits for Mako and Bolin to nod at her before she exits the room and makes her way down. 

“Mako isn’t this room cool! It’s like a clubhouse but already _in_ the house!” Bolin laughs and smells his pillow. “It smells old. I love it so much!”

“It would be a lot cooler if there was a place to put my shit.” Mako frowns and looks around the room.

“Hey! Don’t cuss, Mako. It’s unbecoming.” Bolin says as he pushes himself off his bed. 

“You don’t know what that means,” Mako argues.

“Maybe, but Mom says it enough that I know it isn’t good.” 

Mako rolls his eyes and flops onto his bed, laying half on top of one of his bags.

“And look,” Bolin pipes up from somewhere in the room, “There is a place to put your _stuff_ ,” He says pointedly. 

Mako sits up to see Bolin at the foot of his bed, in front of an open door that he swears wasn’t there before. Mako frowns and gets up to investigate it. The door leads to a small walk-in closet with a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It’s completely empty except for a flashlight, which Mako grabs before heading back over to his bed and dragging his bags over to put things away.

After Mako organizes everything he brought with him, he searches the room for a plug for his DS while Bolin balances on the table to look out the window; the sun has set and they can faintly hear the TV playing from downstairs. Neither of them takes Grandma Yin up on the offer of dino nuggets and go-gurts - traveling took the hunger out of them and replaced it with exhaustion. 

**§**

Eventually, they hear Grandma Yin’s footsteps coming up the stairs to their room and she knocks twice before opening their door. 

“I’m off to bed now. Goodnight, kids.” She stands just outside the room as if she’s unsure that she can enter it.

“Goodnight, Grandma!” Mako and Bolin say in unison. Bolin has jumped down from the table to give their grandma a quick hug.

She hovers near the door for a few more seconds before saying, “Okay, I’ll see you both tomorrow.” And then she’s gone, closing the door behind her.

Bolin yawns as he sits back down on his bed, and Mako looks at the clock for the first time that night. 

“It’s 10:30, Bo. We should get some rest.” Mako snaps his DS shut and places it gently on the corner of the table next to him. 

“But I’m not even tired!” Bolin complains, but he yawns as he says it. 

Mako gives him a tired smile and pulls him off his bed, “Come on bro, we gotta get ready for bed, and then we can sleep.” 

Bolin puts up the smallest protest ever as Mako drags him out to the small bathroom on the floor below them. They both look like they’re about to fall asleep in the sink as they brush their teeth, and they knock their heads together as they lean over to spit at the same time. They frown and rub at their heads and head back upstairs. 

Bolin puts his pajamas on backward and just grunts when Mako points it out; he buries himself under the blankets and falls asleep in seconds. Mako sighs as he climbs into bed and tries to find a comfortable sleeping position - he envies Bolin’s ability to fall asleep anywhere. At some point, he drifts off to sleep because he wakes up with a jolt later, and he squints his eyes as he leans around to look at the clock, and sees it blinking 3:00 in red. 

He blinks his eyes hard a few times and pushes himself up so he’s sitting, and he just stays still and breathes for a few moments. He’s about to lay back down when he hears something snap outside. He freezes mid-movement and holds his breath, listening for it to happen again. It’s silent for a few seconds and then it snaps again. He dismisses it as an animal, like a raccoon or bear (he wonders if there even are bears where he is) or something, but then he hears it yet again, and again, and again. It sounds like branches snapping, but it’s happening too fast for it to be an animal just walking around, and he feels something pull at his brain, telling him it isn’t. 

He quietly gets out of bed, sparing Bolin a quick glance, and climbs onto the table to look out the window. He can’t see anything at first, but then he squints and he sees the trees moving. He rubs at his eyes, and looks back at the trees. They aren’t moving anymore, and he stares for several seconds before deciding it was a sleep-deprived illusion, but then he sees a tree shake and something falls out of it accompanied by the snaps, and he all but jumps off the table, landing with a thud, and then looking over at Bolin to make sure he’s still asleep. Bolin mumbles something and then rolls over, clutching his weird stuffed animal, and Mako breathes a sigh of relief. He’s breathing heavily on the ground and he can hear more sporadic snapping outside, but he doesn’t look again. Instead, he climbs back into bed, and screws his eyes shut, trying to force himself to fall asleep and ignore the noises. 

**§**

He succeeds, somehow, because the next time he wakes up, it’s 6:30 and the sun is rising outside. He’s awake before Bolin, as usual, and assumes he’s awake before his grandma - she doesn’t seem like the “early riser” type. He gets dressed, grabs his scarf, and heads downstairs. He makes himself a breakfast of toast and orange juice - just like what he sees his dad eat - and sits at the kitchen table eating in silence. 

He drinks his orange juice quickly and carries the remainder of toast with him as he wanders towards the shop and museum part of the shack. He enters through a door hidden by a curtain and stops to take in the shop in the early light. He can see dust particles hanging in the air, birds flying by the windows, and everything on display looks frozen and it feels like the shop is resting, getting ready for its day. He uses one of the wooden stools behind the cashier counter to sit on as he finishes his toast, humming while he eats. The silence is broken, however, by the bell above the entrance to the shop jingling and a person walking through. 

Mako whips his head in the direction of the noise and finds himself holding eye contact with a boy a few years older than him, who looks as caught off guard as Mako feels. The boy is standing still, frozen, in a blue sweatshirt with a lacrosse stick across the front and black skinny jeans. He’s wearing beat-up black vans with red socks, and Mako notices that his nails are painted pink and the elastic in his hair matches them. Mako decides he wants to be his best friend.

  
“Uh…” The boy begins, standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Zuko. I’m Zuko. I do the… I work here.” Mako blinks at him, trying to think of the best way to sound cool to impress this older kid. “Wait, hold on, _I_ work here, what are _you_ doing here? We don’t open for, like, 15 minutes.”

Mako panics and wipes his buttery hands on his shorts and jumps off the stool. “I’m Mako! I’m Grandma Yin’s grandson, although you probably got that from me saying grandma…” He trails off and mentally coaches himself to do better. “Nice to meet you.” He sticks a stiff arm out as Zuko makes his way towards the counter.

“Yeah, nice to meet you.” Zuko laughs softly as he shakes Mako’s hand. 

Zuko comes around the corner and pulls out a drawer to set his lunch, book, and sweatshirt in. Under the sweatshirt, he’s wearing a red t-shirt half tucked into his pants, and Mako’s mind is going a mile a minute trying to think of something cool to say to Zuko that would make him seem mature and amazing. 

Instead of something mature and amazing, he says, “Why were you wearing a sweatshirt? It’s summer.”

Zuko shifts on his feet, like he wasn’t ready for this much socialization before the shop opened, and to be fair, he probably wasn’t. “It’s cold outside, but not inside.” And Mako nods like he’s saying something brilliant. 

They fall into silence as they each sit at the counter, watching birds fly to and from the trees, and eventually one of those white transportation vans pulls up to the front of the shack, and a group of five tourists climb out. Mako’s first thought is: why would anyone ever come here as a tourist spot? And his second thought is: how dumb are they to fall for this stuff?

They enter the store and immediately make noises of infatuation. Mako looks to Zuko who’s sitting still, watching the group - all wearing matching “COLSON FAMILY TRIP OF SUMMER FUN” shirts. There’s a girl around Mako’s age staring at him across the store, and he squirms in his seat, nervously looking away and feeling his face grow hot. He looks to Zuko for some show of solidarity in feeling uncomfortable, but Zuko isn’t there. 

Instead, he’s talking to the father of the group and wearing a smile that grows tighter and tighter with every sentence the other man says. He hears Zuko say the words “tour” and “$55 per person” and Mako narrows his eyes at him. What is there to give a tour on here? And for $55? A person? Mako waits and expects the man to laugh at Zuko and leave, but instead he hands Zuko his card and thanks him. 

“I’m gonna need you to watch the shop while I give these people a tour,” Zuko tells Mako as he rings up his credit card. “I shouldn’t be more than, oh, 45? 30 minutes?”

  
“Me?” Mako turns to him and opens and closes his mouth like a goldfish. “But I’m 12! I don’t know how to work a cash register!”

“Then learn!” Is what Zuko says to him as he makes his way back to the family of five, now huddled in a corner of the shop, waiting.

The girl is still staring at him, and her siblings are slowly adding tiny rocks from their pockets to the hood of her jacket and Mako once again feels unnerved. She doesn’t seem to notice given that she’s staring at him and he doesn’t think she’s blinked once, unless she blinks at the exact same time as Mako. But then Zuko is leading the family through a curtain and her attention is dragged away as she and the rest of her family disappear through the doorway. 

Mako focuses on the cash register, deciding to teach himself how to use it in the time Zuko’s gone. He can figure out punching in numbers and opening the drawer, but he can’t figure out how to print receipts, and he makes a mental note to ask Grandma Yin later. He wishes he’d brought his DS down with him, because sitting here in silence is boring. 

He gets up to finally throw out the paper plate he had his toast on, and finds himself standing in front of a window, mindlessly staring out into the trees. Something about the forest here is unsettling, he thinks. When he stares at it for long enough, he feels like the world around him is muffled and he can only hear a humming. He thinks about the trees last night and feels fear and curiosity run through him. He doesn’t realize he’s made his way towards the door until he’s pushed back and shaken from his daze by Zuko hitting him with it on accident. 

“Oh, sorry, Mako. I wasn’t expecting you to be just… standing behind the door.” Zuko squints at him as he holds the door open for the family to re-enter the shop.

“No, no! You’re good!” Mako is overly reassuring as he rubs at his forehead. “Doors! Am I right?” Mako attempts to lean against the door, but misses and his hand ends up in a barrel of goo labeled “Ancient Sap Squeezed From Four Leaf Clovers”. He makes a face as he pulls his arm out and tries to smoothly wipe off the green goo sticking to him. 

“Yeah… doors.” Zuko nods and watches Mako struggle and doesn’t offer to help. “While you deal with that, I’m gonna go get these people to buy stuff.” Zuko shoots him a quick finger gun and then walks over to where the dad and mom are digging through a bucket of rocks that claim to have mystical powers. 

Mako almost has all the slime off his arm when he feels a person standing next to him. He looks up and almost jumps at seeing the girl from earlier watching him pick at the good on his arm. She narrows her eyes at him and lifts up her hand as if she wants to touch him and Mako is frozen in place. 

Then her brother shouts, “Aubrey! That won’t prove anything!” And Mako feels more confused now.

“Yeah! And you only get to make your choice ONCE!” Her sister tacks on. The two of them are standing a few yards away, whispering to each other and smirking as they stare at their sister. 

Her hand drops back to her side and he notices she’s holding her phone in a vice-like grip and he wonders if her hand hurts. Mako’s mouth hangs slightly open as he tries to think of something to say to this girl, but he comes up empty. Thankfully, her dad cheerily announces that it’s time to get back on the road, and he thanks Zuko for the “amazing tour” and shakes his bag of rocks for emphasis. 

As the family passes by Mako to exit, the girl waits until everyone is gone before leaning in and whispering, “My siblings told me this place is haunted and that a ghost works here. They said if I picked the wrong worker, the ghost would possess me.” She explains in a tone of voice that’s too calm for the words accompanying it, “I picked you and I know I’m right.” And before Mako can react, she’s out the door and walking to the van with her family. She climbs into the van, slams the door, and then they’re gone.

When he turns back to Zuko, he finds his grandma standing at the counter with him, counting the cash. Her hair is pulled back and there’s a green scrunchie holding it up, and it matches the green summer dress she’s wearing. She looks like a genuinely sweet old lady, and Mako supposes that’s a majority of the reason why the trap works. 

“Hi, Grandma.” Mako greets her as he walks over to them.

“Mornin’, Mako. Sleep well?” She asks and looks at him over the bills she’s holding. 

“Kinda…” He rubs the back of his neck, remembering the trees.

“It takes a bit of time to adjust here. This isn’t your ordinary town, you know.” 

“What do you mean?” He asks and once again thinks of the snapping of the branches.

“People are just strange here, that’s all. A bit eccentric. Everyone here has some wild story they’ll try to convince you is true.” She sighs and then points at him with an index finger, “And you don’t go believing them!”

Mako’s eyebrows shoot up and he laughs nervously, “Don’t worry, I’m not gullible like Bo.”

She lowers her finger but seems unconvinced. She shares a look with Zuko and Mako wants to be in on it, he wants to know what it means, but before he can even try to ask, Grandma Yin is slamming the cash drawer shut and walking away, then Mako remembers the receipts.

“Grandma, I have a question, actually. How do you print receipts on that thing? I couldn’t figure it out.” He gestures towards the little printing part of the register. 

She _tsks_ before saying, “We don’t do receipts here, Mako.” Then she looks at Zuko, “And why don’t we do receipts, Zuko?”

Without looking up from the book he’s now reading, he deadpans, “Leave no trace.”

She nods, satisfied, and continues over to the backroom of the shop. Mako watches her drag out a box of rocks out with glitter glue on them, and then he watches her dump them into the box the man was digging around in earlier. Mako shakes his head and wonders if people actually believe they’re getting mystical, fantastical rocks.

The rest of the morning continues that way; with Zuko giving tours, Mako watching the register, and Yin walking around talking people into paying way too much for things. Then when 11:30 rolls around, Bolin enters the shop with his untied shoes and somehow already dirty shorts. He says good morning to their grandma, and then makes a bee-line for Mako when he notices him sitting next to a mysterious teenage stranger. 

“I’m Bolin!” He loudly announces, never one aware of volume control. “I like sunny days and fun socks!” He then holds his fist out, waiting for Zuko to bump it with his.

Mako loves his brother, he does, but in that moment he wanted to lower his brother’s arm and run away. “Fist-bumps are for kids, Bolin.” He grimaces.

“We _are_ kids, Mako.” He sticks his tongue out at him and looks at Zuko, waiting. Mako rolls his eyes and looks back down at what he was reading.

Zuko lets out a weak laugh and brings his fist up to meet Bolin’s. “My boyfriend fist-bumps all the time.”

Mako’s breath hitches for a reason he doesn’t understand, and he pauses turning the page in the brochure he’s reading. He looks at Zuko out of the corner of his eye and sees that his face is slightly pink now and Mako feels his grow hot just from noticing.

“A boyfriend? Like one you kiss and stuff?” Bolin’s eyes are wide and he’s looking up at Zuko in the way little kids do when they think teenagers hold the answers to the universe. 

Zuko shifts a bit, uncomfortable under his gaze, “Uh, yeah. You’ll probably meet him later. He picks me up.”

“He can _drive_?!” Bolin yells in astonishment. 

“Yeah that’s how he gets to school and pretty much everywhere.” Zuko twists a bracelet on his wrist around as he talks. 

“Man,” Bolin blows out a stream of air that blows a strand of his hair up, “He’s the whole package!”

Zuko’s laugh is a bit louder this time, and his smile wider. He nods in agreement with Bolin and goes back to reading his book. Bolin wanders off to bother Grandma, leaving Mako and Zuko alone. When nobody is in the shop, they’ve spent their time together reading in silence. Mako has read almost every brochure or souvenir packet in sight, and Zuko’s reading some book with a gold helmet on the front. They don’t talk unless Zuko asks Mako to grab him something from his end of the counter, or if Mako has a burning question for Zuko, but Mako doesn’t mind. He likes just being near Zuko, and after hearing his conversation with Bolin, he thinks Zuko is the coolest person he’ll ever meet. He isn’t sure why he feels so close to Zuko after only 4 hours, but he wants to spend all his time with him, even if they just sit and read. 

**§**

Around 2:00, Mako can hear yelling coming from outside the shop. He looks up to see if anyone else has taken notice, but Zuko’s head is still down, and Yin is showing Bolin how to spray paper with coffee to make it look old. The yelling is getting closer and more clear, and it sounds like a girl. Then the yelling is at the shop’s door, and the bell is ringing and the yelling is in the shop, accompanied by a tired-looking boy dressed in all black. 

“Hi Korra, hi Huan.” Zuko greets them without looking up.

“Korra, I’m at work now.” The boy tells her as he raises a hand in greeting to Yin and Bolin. “Inside voice now. Hi Zuko.”

The little girl, Korra, nods dutifully and follows him to the counter. She stops when she makes eye contact with Mako and redirects her route to him. She stands in front of him, hands on her hips, eyeing him over. He wrinkles his nose and sits back, doing the same to her. She looks tall, but not taller than him, and she has several ocean-themed bandaids on her face, legs, and arms. One hand is bandaged in a wrap, and the opposite side’s upper arm is wrapped up similarly. Her hair is choppy and uneven and ends at her chin, Mako guesses she cut it herself. She’s wearing a white tank top with spots on it and denim shorts and a pair of flipflops that look like they’re about to break.

“I’m Korra!” She says it with a smile and her eyes crinkle. “We’re going to be friends, Mystery Boy.”

“I’m Mako,” He leans forward again, a bit closer to her now, “And how do you know we’re going to be friends?”

“Because I said so.” She smiles once more and rolls her eyes, like it’s obvious. “Besides, what else is there to do here?”

She raises a valid point and Mako shrugs. It probably would be nice to have someone other than Bolin to hang out with all the time. Of course, he’d pick Zuko first, but he’s older and cooler, so he thinks more realistically. 

“If you’re friends with me, you have to be friends with my brother.” He points out Bolin, standing in the corner organizing the “Cryptic Documents Unearthed in 1901”. He calls Bolin over, and he quickly puts down the stack of papers he’s working on in favor of Mako.

“That’s fine with me.” Korra shrugs. “I’m Korra and we,” She gestures to the three of them, “Are going to be best friends.”

“I’m Bolin and okay!” The two of them share a high-five and turn to Mako. He sighs and then extends his hands, and they high-five him. 

“That’s Huan,” Korra points to the boy she had walked in with. “He works afternoons here in the summer and I walk with him to keep him company. He loves it.” 

Mako leans back a bit to get a look at Huan who’s standing on the other side of Zuko. He’s a bit taller than Zuko, and part of his head is shaved and some strands are dyed green. His black shirt is covered in paint and his jeans are ripped and also black. He’s cuffed his jeans and isn’t wearing any shoes, which makes Mako frown and double-take. He watches Huan scoot behind Zuko to put his messenger bag in one of the little shelves below the counter. He grabs a sketchbook out and a pencil from the mug next to the register and takes over Zuko’s stool as he gets up. 

“Wait, Zuko, where’re you going?” Mako asks as he notices him gathering his things.

“My shift’s over. Huan’s here until closing.” He writes something down on a post-it and sticks it to Huan’s forehead. Huan hits Zuko’s hand away, but leaves the post-it on for a few more seconds before taking it off and smiling at whatever he wrote on it.

“Wait your shift’s over? Does that mean-” And Bolin’s thought is cut off by someone entering the shop and singing Zuko’s name.

The boy that enters the shop is wearing a tie-dye blue crop top and black sport shorts. His hair is up in a small ponytail and the sides of his head are shaved. He has his cartilage pierced in one ear, and when he gets closer, Mako sees he has in a tiny orange flame earring. He’s also wearing weirdly complicated-looking sandals that criss-cross up to his mid-calf. Mako thinks he’s pretty, and then frowns at himself. 

“Hey, Sokka.” Zuko waves over his shoulder. “I’ll be done in a sec.”

“You’re Zuko’s boyfriend?” Bolin asks as the other boy rests his elbows on the counter next to them. 

Sokka’s grin almost splits his face in two as he beams at Zuko, “Aw, babe! You talk about me?”

“I mentioned you _once_. Don’t let it go to your head.” Zuko chastises as he walks around the counter to stand next to his boyfriend. He’s tied the sweatshirt around his waist and is leaning against Sokka’s side. 

“I’m worth talking about all the time, actually.” Sokka counters as he wraps an arm around Zuko’s shoulders. 

“Zuko I’m gonna miss you.” Bolin pouts and Mako thinks that he needs to tell Bolin to filter himself a little, it’s only been a day - you can’t just say these things. 

“Ah don’t worry, buddy. He’ll be back tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that. He’s here until he leaves, basically.” Sokka kisses the side of Zuko’s head. “He brings in all the money, and I look pretty.” Bolin laughs at that.

“Is that Sokka?” comes Yin’s voice from the backroom. Everyone’s eyes dart over to her as she enters the room and sets her eyes on him. 

Sokka throws his arms in the air like he’s celebrating and exclaims, “Yin, baby! How are ya!”

“I thought I told you-” She starts towards him with that same finger she pointed at Mako earlier.

“Ah! It’s past 2:00! I can be here! Zuko’s off work!” Sokka dramatically gestures to the crooked clock hanging above the door. 

“He’s right.” Huan supplies from his stool, and Yin narrows her eyes at him. He just shrugs at her and continues drawing. 

“It’s fine, Yin. We were leaving anyway.” Zuko grabs Sokka’s hand and begins to pull him towards the door. 

“Wait! I never got their names!” Sokka shouts and points at Mako and Bolin. 

“Mako, Bolin,” Zuko points at each boy respectively, “They’re here for the summer and they’re Yin’s grandkids, okay let’s _go_.” Zuko tugs on his hand again and Sokka gives them a two-finger salute as he’s dragged out the door. 

“I like him!” Bolin announces to nobody in particular. 

“Yeah, he’s cool.” Huan agrees. “Loud. But cool.”

“You all have bad taste. If you need me, I’ll be in the tree grove regluing faces to the trunks.” Yin huffs as she grabs her supplies and then leaves the shop. 

The silence in the shop lasts for a few seconds before Korra and Bolin are trying to look at Huan’s sketchbook and asking him questions about it. He snatches it away from them, batting at Korra’s grabby hands and telling them to shoo. 

“Huan!” Bolin’s eyes get huge and he says, “We never really introduced ourselves! I’m Bolin, and that moody guy down there is my brother, Mako.” He pushes himself up on the counter to be closer to Huan’s face

“Yeah. I heard from Zuko.” Huan gently pushes down on Bolin’s shoulders until his feet are back in the ground and Huan has his personal space back.

“Huan, what’re you drawing please tell us!” Korra pleads with him, and once again the sketchbook is ripped away from her.

“Stop! You’re worse than Opal, honestly.” He blows some hair out of his face. “Why don’t you guys like, go outside or something. Why’re you even in here?”

“Like the woods?” Bolin asks and points towards the trees.

“Yeah. Go explore, find cool sticks or something.” Huan suggests.

“Okay! C’mon Bolin! Mako,” Korra slams her hand over the pages he was reading, “You’re coming too.” And when Mako opens his mouth to protest, Korra shakes her head and takes the brochure. “‘Gravity Falls and You: The Guide to Staying Upright in an Otherwise Upside Down Town’? Mako, if you want to get to know the area, the best way to do that is by exploring! And lucky for you two, I’m great at it.” She stuffs the brochure in a pocket, and waits for Mako to hop down and stand with her and Bolin before leading them out of the shop. They wave goodbye to Huan as they leave, and then they’re out in the summer air. 

Korra and Bolin lead the way, with Mako following behind them. Korra rambles on about some local legend that the birds here aren’t really birds, and Bolin is engaging with her like it might be true. Mako veers off the small path they’ve been following and finds himself surrounded by trees in a weird square pattern. He can’t see Bolin or Korra anymore, and he can’t hear them either.

His heart rate picks up and he shouts for them, but doesn’t hear anything in response. He didn’t think he went _that_ far off the trail, but he can’t see anything familiar now. He’s lost in some forest he doesn’t know, in a small town in Oregon and he’s going to die here. In his panic, he trips over a log and lands on a bed of moss. He puts his hands on the ground to push himself up and feels something click under them. He freezes, unsure of what just happened. 

He shifts to kneeling and gently removes his hands from the ground. He hears another click. He picks at the moss, carefully clearing it away, and brushing dirt aside, searching for what clicked. After a few seconds, his hands hit something cold and metal. He gets rid of the rest of the dirt to find a metal platform under him, with two small, darker-colored squares on either side of it. His hands hover over the squares and he guesses that’s what he hit when he fell. He looks around, and doesn’t notice anything different with his surroundings-- still the same old creepy woods-- and he makes the impulse decision to press down again, but harder. 

He feels the click the same as the first time, but then there’s a second one followed by the sound of something sliding open. He lifts his neck to see what’s opened, and finds the log in front of him split in half now. He removes his hands without thinking and scoots over to the log. The inside is metal, and when Mako knocks on the outside, it sounds like metal too. Within the log, well he supposes it’s more of a metal tube, he finds a book with a worn-in red leather cover and an odd handprint across the front. The number 2 is written across the palm of the hand and the edges of the book look like they’ve been beaten down a bit. 

He picks up the book and is about to open it when he hears his name being yelled. He jumps up, accidentally knocking the log closed, and shouts back into the forest. He hears his name being yelled again in response and Mako shouts that he’s in the clearing. He looks down at the metal platform and notices that the squares have popped back up. He isn’t sure why, but he covers up the metal pad before yelling for Bolin and Korra again. 

“Mako!” Bolin breathes a sigh of relief as he throws himself into his brother’s arm. “I was so worried!”

Mako furrows his eyebrows. It had only been a few minutes. “It wasn’t that long, Bo.” Mako comforts him as he rubs his back. 

“Uh, yeah it was. Mako, it’s almost 4:00.” Korra points up, and Mako notices the sun is far lower than it was when they went in. How did he not notice that? “We went back to the shack a few times, hoping you went back there, but nobody had seen you. Yin was ready to send out a search party.”

“Huh.” Mako frowns at the sky. “I could’ve sworn it was only a few minutes.” 

“Well it wasn’t and I-- wait. What is that? Where did you find a book?” Bolin questions and points at the book in his hand.

“Yeah hold on, where’d you get that?” Korra puts one hand on her hip and cocks her head to the side.

“I found it under some stuff, I dunno. Just thought it was cool.” Mako explained, not wanting to share the cool thing he’d found just yet. 

“Hm.” Korra hums in response, “Not entirely sure how that works but okay.” Mako just shrugs. “Anyway, c’mon, we gotta get back. Yin’s been worried.” And with that, Korra starts on her trek back to the shop. 

Bolin holds Mako’s hand as they walk back, and he’s squeezing really tight. Mako suddenly feels awful that he had spent hours looking for him. If Bolin had been missing for two hours, heck even 30 minutes, Mako would have had a panic attack.

“How did you even find that place?” Korra asks from up front, not turning around. “I’ve never seen it.”  
  
“Oh, uh, I just kinda walked into it. It wasn’t hard.” Mako answers and frowns a bit. “I thought you had explored every inch of the forest, Korra.”

“Yeah, I have! That’s why I’m so confused.” She grumbles and then pushes her way out of the forest and into the sun in front of the shack. “Well,” She turns to face the boys, “Not that this hasn’t been fun, y’know searching for you, Mako, but I gotta get home. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” And with a wave and a smile, she takes off running down the road, her flipflops smacking with every step.

“That was weird, what she said about the forest.” Bolin wonders out loud. 

“Yeah… it was. I’m sure she just overlooked it though.” Mako assures him as they step inside the shack, the book tucked under his arm.

He’s first hit on the shoulder and then hugged and then hit again by his grandma when she sees him and the affection is kind of shocking to Mako. Huan tells him he’s glad he’s okay and that he was about to call his mom and weird cousin to go looking for him and Mako smiles, unsure what they could’ve done to find him that Bolin and Korra couldn’t; more bodies looking, he supposes. His grandma quickly hurries to the phone to call the police station in town and tell them he’s okay, and Bolin hasn’t stopped holding his hand. Nobody mentions the book he’s holding behind his back. 

**§**

Later that night, when Bolin is fast asleep, Mako pulls out the book and rests it on his lap, ready to read it. He turns the lantern on as low as it’ll go and watches Bolin to make sure he’s still asleep, before going to open the book. His hand gently smooths over the cover and a thin layer of dust comes off of it; he opens the cover, but before he can read anything, his grandma is knocking at the door and entering the room. 

He quickly shoves the book under his covers, still unsure as to why he feels like he has to hide this from people, and shuts off the lantern. 

“Mako, you scared me earlier.” She whispers as she sits at the foot of his bed. He nods, even though she probably can’t see him too well in the dark. “You have to be careful,” She warns, “The woods, that forest, it’s not like any other forest you’ve been in.”

“How do you mean?” His voice is small when he speaks and he hates that he sounds like a scared kid.

“There are rules to this forest, Mako. You have to be careful where you step and who you talk to, is all. Be aware of your surroundings and it’ll be okay.” She reaches over and pats his knee. “What I mean is, the forest is big and dark and nobody, no matter what she claims, has seen all of it -- it’s like the ocean. Just be careful from now on.” And Mako thinks she sounds scared for him for a second.

“Okay, Grandma.” He murmurs back. “I’ll be careful.” He promises.

“Thank you, Mako.” She pushes herself and walks to the door. “I’m glad you’re home and that you’re safe. Goodnight.” She gives him a smile and he waves back as she shuts the door.

He hears her walk down the stairs and when he’s sure she’s down them, he pulls out his book and flicks the lantern back on. He pauses for a moment, waiting for something else to interrupt him opening it and finally reading what’s inside, but he’s met with silence. 

He opens the book and begins to read under the cover of night. 


	2. The Weird Twins From the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi sorry it took me so long i hope whoever is reading this has a nice day

Mako’s eyes burn by the time he gets to the last page of the book with writing. He frowns at the blank page in his hand and opens and closes the book several times as if that might make something appear on it. He flips to the end of the book, finding blank page after blank page until he reaches the hardcover at the back. There has to be more, right? He thinks of this movie his dad used to watch where everything was a clue or secret of some kind, and he feels the cover for a bump, hoping to find a key or something. Instead, he just feels the regular journal cover – no special or weird bumps anywhere.

He closes the book and carefully tucks it under his pillow, not wanting to risk Bolin waking up before him and finding it, and turns off the lantern. He stares at the ceiling and tries to make sense of what he read. There are weird things in the woods, the woods just outside this room, and some of them are friendly, but some aren’t and would probably like to see Mako fashioned into a jacket. He shivers thinking about some forest creature wearing him to protect themselves against the rain. But then again, who’s to say this book is even real? Maybe someone made this whole thing up and everything inside it.

The only thing illuminating the room is the red glow from the clock on the table next to him, and Mako has to squeeze his eyes shut to prevent his brain from making him think he’s seeing a monster in the corner or something.

Without thinking, he says, “Bolin?” And it’s a bit louder than he intended it to be, but it gets the job done because Bolin is awake in seconds.

“Huh? Mako?” Mako cracks an eye open to look at him; he’s rubbing his eyes and propping himself up on his elbow. He looks tired, but Mako feels relief at seeing him, knowing it’s just the two of them in the room.

“Oh, sorry, Bo. I didn’t mean to wake you.” A lie. “Go back to sleep, I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay?” Bolin asks. He’s cocooned himself in his blankets again and Mako softly laughs at the image of his brother swaddled in the giant quilt, only his face visible.

“I’m fine, I promise. I just got spooked a little.” Mako admits and Bolin frowns a bit, “Nothing bad, though! Just… this place is new and not like home. It’s weird.”

Bolin nods in agreement, “Yeah, I get that.” It’s silent for a few moments before Bolin talks again. “But at least we have each other.”

Mako smiles at him, unsure how well Bolin can see him in the dark room, and echoes, “At least we have each other.”

Bolin yawns and mumbles a goodnight to Mako before closing his eyes again and Mako follows suit, trying not to focus on the sounds coming from the forest too much.

**§**

Mako once again wakes up just as the sun is rising. He stretches his arms up under his pillow and punches the journal. His eyes widen in surprise before he remembers he put it there, it didn’t just spawn or walk under there. He twists around to pull it out, once again looking it over, just to double triple-check that there aren’t any secret compartments or things hidden that he missed last night. He sighs as he comes up empty, and places the book under his blanket as he gets ready for the day.

After finishing his morning routine, his mom likes to laugh and tell him he’s too young to call it a “routine”, he packs his backpack for the day with two packs of fruit snacks, bandaids, a water bottle, his journal, his DS, and a pencil and heads into the shop. He eats toast again, but this time makes an extra slice for Zuko. He sets himself up at the counter in the shop, and waits patiently for the door to jingle signaling Zuko’s arrival.

Not five minutes after he’s sat down, Zuko comes in. He’s wearing the hoodie again, but this time he has black shorts on. If Mako felt more comfortable around him, he’d make a comment like “oh really changing it up today huh”, but instead he just sits and smiles at him.

“Hi, Zuko!” Mako greets him as he takes his seat next to him.

Zuko spins around on the stool to face him, “Goodmorning, Mako.”

“I brought you some toast.” Mako quickly shoves the paper plate over to Zuko and watches him to see how he’ll react.

Zuko’s cheeks tint pink slightly and he smiles a little. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” Mako tries his hardest to sound cool, but his voice cracks at the end and he winces.

Mako turns back to scratching his name into the counter when he hears Zuko cough a little bit. Mako whips his head in Zuko’s direction and his eyes widen when he sees Zuko clutching his stomach and coughing into his hand.

“Zuko?” Mako exclaims as he jumps off his stool and hovers near him.

“Mako, what kind of jam did you put on the toast?” Zuko asks between wheezes.

“Strawberry! Why?” Mako is still awkwardly standing near Zuko, unsure about what he should be doing.

“I’m crazy allergic to strawberries!” Zuko winces and curls in on himself. “My stomach hurts so much and I can’t breathe.” His face is hidden and Mako silently gives thanks to whatever’s out there because he doesn’t think he could handle seeing Zuko’s puffy red face.

“I’ll find the phone!” Mako runs out from behind the counter. “I’ll call… the hospital? Poison control? Someone! I’ll call someone!” He tries to ignore Zuko’s wheezing as he opens drawer after drawer in the backroom for the shop phone.

“Mako, I really don’t feel good,” Zuko shouts from the front of the shop.

Mako feels himself starting to sweat, and he’s about to give up and just run to wake up Yin when he finds the phone in the back of a drawer next to some batteries and rubber bands. He grabs the phone with his clammy hands and runs out to Zuko.

“Who do I call!” He waves the phone at him.

“You found it! You call–” Zuko drops to the ground before he can finish his sentence and Mako runs over, panicked.

He’s just about to reach the counter when Zuko springs up and yells, “Gotcha!”

Mako drops the phone in surprise, and it clatters onto the floor. Zuko is standing in front of Mako looking… well, looking normal. He’s pointing at Mako and smiling, but Mako’s brain is trying to piece together what happened.

“But… you were… and I was… strawberry jam?” Mako manages to get out.

Zuko drops his arms and sits back down on his stool, and pats the other stool for Mako to come sit on.

“It was a joke! A prank!” Zuko’s saying this as if he had the best idea in the entire world.

Mako picks up the phone and sits down next to Zuko, still breathing a little heavy either from the panic or the surprise of Zuko actually being fine.

“A prank? I thought I killed you!” Mako shouts and shocks himself a little bit. “I thought you were dying, Zuko.” He adds in a much more quiet voice.

“Oh, Mako, I genuinely hadn’t thought of that.” Zuko apologizes. “Sokka does dumb shi– stuff like that all the time so I figured I would try it. It did not go according to plan.” He awkwardly rubs Mako’s arm and tries for a reassuring smile.

Mako slightly blushes at the contact. “That’s okay. I’m not good at pranks, either.” He gives Zuko a small smile back, trying to show that he’s really okay.

“I won’t prank you anymore.” Zuko offers and he extends his hand to Mako, who shakes it gently.

“I don’t think you should prank anyone anymore, honestly.” Mako jests, trying to get the air back to normal around them.

Zuko laughs, actually laughs, and Mako feels the room lighten a bit. The shop has technically been open for ten minutes, but nobody has walked by or come in, and it’s probably a good thing. Mako blankly stares out the window at the forest, imagining what could be staring back, and Zuko sits next to him reading the same book as yesterday.

**§**

It’s almost 1:00, and Mako keeps pausing what he’s doing to stare at his backpack below him. Yin came into the shop around noon and assigned him the task of making coins from the cash register look old so she can charge people $2.00 for a nickel. Bolin is putting the coins into some weird bleach and water mixture, and when he deems them “tarnished”, he hands them over to Mako who uses an old nail file on them. When he’s done, he gives the coin to Zuko and he puts them in a jar at the counter for people to buy. Mako asks his grandma why they would be doing this out in the open where customers can see, and she tells him to just hide everything if someone comes in, and then after a brief pause, she tells Bolin to sit on the floor under the counter to hide.

He must be looking at his backpack for longer than usual because Zuko elbows him and asks what he’s staring at. He opens his mouth to tell him nothing or make a remark about being tired of smelling like pennies, but his brain has decided to take a different course of action.

“Have you ever seen anything weird here?” It’s a question out of left field, and Mako almost regrets asking it.

“What do you mean by ‘weird’? Like ghost-weird or man-marrying-a-ferret-weird?” Zuko asks as he plops four coins into the jar.

“Who married a ferret?” Mako asks and Zuko tries to answer, but Mako waves him off, focused on his new task at hand, “Nevermind. I mean ghost-weird.”

Zuko seems to really give the question thought before answering, “No.”

“Damn.” Mako cusses and chews on the inside of his lip. “I was hoping for a yes.”

“Why?” Bolin asks from below him. “Do you want to be haunted, Mako? If you want that, I can do it, I can be ghostlike!”

“No!” Mako wrinkles his face at Bolin, “I just wanted to know if there was anything cool about this town, but I guess not.” He sighs and continues filing his coins.

Zuko is one person, he doesn’t speak for everyone in Gravity Falls, he reminds himself. He’ll ask Huan and Korra when they come in today. Someone somewhere in this town has seen things and written them down for Mako to find, he just has to discover who.

“This town is still pretty weird, dude.” Zuko adds, “Like, Sokka claims he’s seen a ghost before, but then again so does Toph.” Zuko laughs to himself and Mako assumes it’s some joke he doesn’t understand, but he doesn’t ask him to explain. “But really, the people in this town are weird on their own. Gravity Falls doesn’t need anything supernatural,” He wiggles his fingers as he says it, “because there’s enough weird here on its own. Like the lady who owns the only drug store in town – she constantly leans to the right and only speaks in rhymes, it’s weird.”

“I wanna meet her!” Bolin muses as he stands up, stretching his legs and arms. The last of the coins sit in the bleach and water, slowly turning darker.

“Next time I fill up my prescription I’ll bring you, Bolin.” Zuko promises.

“Thanks, Zuko!” He leans over Mako as if he isn’t there and fistbumps Zuko.

“You can come too,” Zuko nudges him slightly after Bolin retracts his fist, “on our weird field trip to the drug store.”

“Oh, cool.” Mako nods his head trying very hard to seem like he wasn’t silently waiting for an invitation.

Bolin drops the last few coins in front of Mako and makes a popping noise with his mouth. Mako sighs and begins his filing as Bolin runs to stand next to Zuko to read over his shoulder. Things continue like that for the next hour; Bolin reading over Zuko’s shoulder and making noises when Zuko swats at him for getting too close, and Mako making sure each coin looks ruined enough to sell.

**§**

Mako knows it’s getting close to 2:00 because he hears Korra’s loud voice coming from the woods. He looks up from his DS just in time to see Bolin rush over to the door to hold it open for Huan and Korra as they enter the shop. Huan’s hair is up in a bun today and there’s a pencil sticking out from behind his ear. As he comes closer to put his stuff down, Mako notices the pencil is pink with cupcakes on it, and he smiles at how funny the image in front of him is: Huan dressed in black and dark green with a pretty pink pencil.

Huan must notice him looking because he sighs and says, “My little brothers gave it to me as a birthday present. It came in a pack of 24 and I’m slowly working through them.” Mako nods in the little-brothers-huh way in response.

Korra and Bolin are standing by the door, laughing as Bolin pulls a few sticks out of her hair. Mako shoves his DS in his pocket and shuffles over to them as Bolin pulls the final stick from her hair.

“Greetings, Mako!” Korra greets him enthusiastically.

“Hey, Korra.” He gives her a little wave back.

“I can’t stay for long today, I have this stupid family dinner with my weird relatives and my mom makes me help set everything up.” She frowns at the ground and kicks at a floorboard as she talks and Mako wants to know how weird these people have to be for Korra to not like them.

“At least we can hang out for a bit! Before you have to go see your insane relatives!” Bolin exclaims.

“I wish, Bo. I only really was able to get away long enough to walk Huan here and see you guys.” Korra shrugs and frowns.

“That blows,” Mako says as his eyes dart over to the counter to see Zuko and Huan talking and he’s reminded of his book under his stool. “Korra, I have a kinda weird question for you.”

“Fun!” She exclaims.

“Have you ever, like, seen something weird in the woods or the town in general?” He whispers the question, and he isn’t sure why.

Bolin raises his eyebrow in Mako’s direction as Korra answers, “Mako, there’s so much weird stuff that happens in this town. Like, once, this kid at school, Tahno, claimed that he saw a werewolf in the woods, but also he lies a lot so who knows if he’s telling the truth.” She rolls her eyes and then puts one hand on each boy’s shoulder and continues, “Weird stuff goes on here, but who knows if it’s true! It’s just fun to think about!” Korra removes her hands and claps them together twice. “I gotta get going now!” She announces to the store. Zuko and Huan look up and wave to her. Mako and Bolin say goodbye and wish her luck with her dinner and she gives them a two-finger salute before dipping through the door.

The two boys watch her run back into the forest before heading over to the counter to bother Zuko and Huan.

“What’s with you asking everyone if they’ve seen weird things in town?” Zuko questions without looking up from his book.

Huan’s eyes fly to Mako’s and he seems a little alarmed for a moment, but before Mako can make anything of his expression, his face resumes its calm, neutral look.

“How did you even hear that?” Mako pouts and crosses his arms. He was trying to conduct a secret investigation, he didn’t need Zuko airing it to the public.

“There was literally no other noise in the shop and it isn’t that big.” Zuko closes his book and tucks it under the counter. “Yin won’t let us have music playing,” He pauses before raising his voice, “Even if it helps the ambiance!” He yells and his face is still facing Mako, but his eyes are staring at the backroom.

“‘Ambiance’! Big word for a short man!” Yin yells back and Zuko rolls his eyes. Mako assumes they’ve had this argument before and smiles to himself thinking about them arguing regularly about it.

“For real though,” Zuko shifts his attention back to Mako, “Why?”

“I’m just curious about the town!” Mako’s voice shoots to a few octaves higher than he intended and he catches Huan stifling a laugh.

“He’s a curious boy, Zuko!” Bolin defends him and Mako wants to thank him and laugh at the same time. Bolin’s hands are on his hips and he looks like their mom when she lectures them for doing something they shouldn’t.

“I would’ve phrased it differently, but yeah!” Mako declares and without thinking, mirrors Bolin, and puts his hands on his hips.

“Alright, alright.” Zuko laughs and shakes his head and begins packing his stuff up finally.

“Well?” Mako looks to Huan expectantly.

“Huh?” Huan blinks a few times, clearly having zoned out.

“Have you seen anything odd or weird, Huan?” Mako asks, putting his elbows down on the counter and putting his face in his hands.

Huan sucks in a breath and then responds in his usual cool voice, “Weird is a relative term, Mako. The word ‘weird’ takes on a new meaning with every person, so my weird might be your normal or vice-versa. I could say I’ve seen something weird, but I might just mean I once saw a one-legged bird.”

Mako sighs and drops his head. “I don’t know what I was expecting,” he mumbles against the counter and then repeats it when he picks his head up to the sound of the bell jingling.

“Sokka!” Bolin shouts.

“Bolin!” Sokka shouts back with just as much enthusiasm.  
Mako waves at him and he waves back, walking over and resting his arm on top of Bolin’s head.

“How was work today?” Sokka asks, following Bolin’s movements trying to get away from his arm.

“Good. Mako’s on some journey here to ask people about weird things they’ve seen here.” Zuko points towards Mako with his free arm.

“Really?” Sokka’s face lights up. “You know, I actually have a pretty good story if you wanna hear it?”

Mako turns to Sokka and nods, “Yeah! Please!”

He finally takes his arm off Bolin and uses it to gesture, “Well, one winter when I was around 13, I met–”

“Is that Sokka again?” Yin shouts from the back.

“Yes, but we’re leaving… again!” Zuko yells back.

“Wait, can’t you finish the story, Sokka?” Mako pleads as the two teenagers make their way to the door.

“I wish I could, dude, but Zuko here promised we’d be at this barbeque thing for a friend of his, and it starts soon.” Sokka frowns when he sees Mako’s face drop, “I’ll finish it another time, though. I promise!” He holds his pinky out to Mako, and Mako rolls his eyes but wraps his pinky around Sokka’s.

“Next time I see you?” Mako asks, still holding Sokka’s pinky tightly.

“Next time I see you.” Sokka confirms.

Then he and Zuko wave goodbye to Bolin and Huan and leave the shop, driving away in Sokka’s car. Mako watches Sokka’s Subaru drive down the dirt road before staring into the forest. It’s only a little after 2:00, the sun isn’t going to set for a few hours and there isn’t much else for him to help with today; Mako decides he’s going to explore the forest for a bit.

“I’m gonna go outside for a bit,” Mako tells Huan and Bolin as he grabs his backpack from under his – now Huan’s – stool.

“Have fun, be safe, all that stuff.” Huan says from above him.

Mako shrugs on his backpack and promises Huan he won’t talk to strangers.

“We’ll be back later!” Bolin calls from behind him, and Mako whips around to find Bolin following him to the door.

“No, I will be back later. You’re staying here.” Mako turns Bolin around and gently pushes him back in the direction of the counter.

“But I’m bored! Let me come!” Bolin pleads, continuing to follow Mako.

“No, Bo. I’m doing older brother big kid stuff. It might be dangerous. You’ve gotta wait here.” Mako tries to sound like his dad, he even makes his voice deeper.

Bolin lets out a huff of air and sulks. “Fine. Huan and I will have fun on our own.” He then stomps back over to Huan, sits on the empty stool, crosses his arms and glares at Mako.

Mako rolls his eyes, knowing that by the time he’s back Bolin will have forgotten he was mad and he’ll ask Mako to play with legos or something.

**§**

As Mako walks through the woods he tries hard to be extra observant of his surroundings. He pauses every now and then to poke at a tree or bush with a pencil he’s brought with him, careful not to disturb anything too much. He can’t shake the feeling that he’s being watched, though. However, when he turns around there’s never anything there, it’s just him alone in the woods. He stops for a snack after a while and sits on the ground to drink some water and eat a fruit snack pack.

First, he hears a crunch, and then he hears a quiet, “Oh no.” And he looks up from his fruit snacks to find Bolin staring at him, smiling awkwardly, and standing on a ring of crushed mushrooms. “Hi!”

“Bo, I thought I told you –” Mako begins to walk towards Bolin, ready to drag him back to the shack when Bo is whisked up into the air.

He shrieks and Mako can’t believe what just happened.

“Bolin!” Mako screams.

He’s looking at Bolin’s arms and his brain knows he’s being held up by something but he can’t see what, it’s like whatever it is is just out of his line of sight. He rubs at his eyes a few times, mouth still slightly ajar, and squints and he finally sees what’s dangling Bolin.

The creatures are small, half a foot tall if Mako had to guess, and when they move it looks like reality flickers around them, bending to accommodate them. Mako stumbles back, tripping over a root he swears wasn’t there before, and looks around. There are dozens of them now, peering at him from tree branches and under rocks and through bushes and blades of grass. They all have either dark blue or dark green skin with iridescent wings and dark hair ranging from short to long in length. Some have leaves wrapped around them, others have flower petals.

“Hey!” Bolin cries from high up above. “Help!”

Mako nods feverishly and crawls back over to his backpack to read through the journal as quickly as he can. He finds the picture of the creature in the book, but there’s nothing more on the page other than the word “PIXIES” and a bullet point that reads “names important!”. He feels all their eyes on him and his panic builds. He’s about to slam the book and just start guessing what they want when a pixie settles on top of the book.

“We won’t hurt him, you know.” They sound bored and like they have a million better things they could be doing.

“Well, then, give him back.” Mako narrows his eyes at the little creature and ignores Bolin’s shout of agreement.

“Ah, we cannot do that, young one.” The pixie sighs and crosses their legs. Mako could close the book right now and catch them, but he doesn’t think the rest would care for that.

“Why not?” They’re a bit annoyed, they could easily just let Bolin go, he’s just a kid!

“We need something in return.” Their tone has shifted into something business-like and Mako doesn’t like it at all.

“If it’s money I have bad news –”

“It isn’t money!” The pixie’s voice is sharp and cutting and Mako shuts his mouth. “We want, no, we need power.”

“Power? What for?” Mako questions and the pixie smiles devilishly.

“To survive, of course.” They explain as if it should be obvious.

“How does that work?”

The pixie sighs and pushes themself off the book, and begins walking along the root tripped over.

“We used to be much stronger, but as more people came they took away more and more of our forest. Our forest is our home, it’s where we live and what we draw natural power from, but these humans have slowly been taking it away year after year,” they lament as they pace back and forth on the root.

“That kinda sucks,” Mako agrees. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re holding my brother hostage!”

“Yeah!” Bolin kicks at the air and the pixies hanging onto his untied shoelaces go flying.

“Find a way to get us some of our power back and we’ll give you back your Bolin, fair deal?” They extend a tiny hand with four small claws.

“Hold on, what’s to stop you from dragging us away into your weird fairy den or whatever once I get you power?” Mako raises a skeptical eyebrow at the pixie.

They sigh dramatically once again as if Mako should know all of this already. “We’re good on our word, kid. We get power, you get your brother. And as a bonus, I’ll owe you one.”

“Okay, but how do I know you won’t double-cross me?” Mako clutches his journal to his chest.

They roll their eyes, “We won’t! I won’t! I promise.”

Mako knows he needs some type of insurance for this. He can’t just trust this little pixie thing just because they say so. Then he remembers the note about names and feels himself become a little more confident.

“Just shake their hand! I have to pee!” Bolin yells.

Mako stares at the pixie who is now lounging on the log, hands folded beneath their head. “Give me your name,” Mako states, and they sit up in a hurry.

Before talking, they school their face into their classic aloof expression, “Why do you need my name?”

“I’m not an idiot. Names have power. You know his,” Mako nods towards Bolin, “So give me yours.”

The pixie smirks at him. “Pulling a move like this is risky.”

“It would be, I agree, if you were more powerful. But you aren’t, instead your hopes of power rely on me, a 12-year-old. So,” Mako sits upright and leans in, “Give me your name.”

They lean in close to Mako and whisper, “This name is just for you. If you tell your brother or anyone else, the deal is off.” Mako nods. “Fayette.” Once the name is said, it settles in Mako’s chest like a brick. He isn’t sure how a name can carry weight, but theirs does and now it’s Mako’s to hold.

Mako pulls back to look at Fayette but they’ve vanished, along with the rest of the pixies and Bolin. He feels something land on his shoulder and whisper, “Go!” in his ear. He scrambles around to grab his backpack and put the journal and remaining fruit snacks inside, and then he runs off into the forest. He runs for a few minutes before realizing he doesn’t know where he is and curses himself for not taking a minute to think out a plan.

He’s near a stream that looks like it’s out of a storybook and he sits down next to it, exhausted. He chugs his water and is still thirsty when he’s done. Looking to the stream he wonders if the water would be clean enough to drink here. He knows normally it isn’t, but this forest isn’t normal. Mako leans in to scoop some water out of the river when he hears a voice call out to him from somewhere nearby.

“Dude, don’t drink the stream water!” it calls. The voice sounds like it belongs to a kid around his age.

“Don’t you know your forest basics? Don’t drink unfiltered water, bro!” says another voice.

“What?” Mako drops his hands and squints towards the tree the voices are coming from. He has to shield his eyes against the sun, but he sees two figures drop out of the tree and walk the few feet over to him.

The voices belong to two boys around Bolin’s age. They look exactly the same save for one having a rounder face than the other, and one wearing a dark green tank top while the other wears a light green tank top. They’re both wearing cargo shorts that look like the kind Bolin wears, and they aren’t wearing any shoes.

“Stream water,” one of the boys gestures to the water, “Is a no, always.”

“Even if it’s sparkling clear, it’s a no.” The other one, the one in light green, crosses his arms, and shakes his head.

Mako narrows his eyes at them. “Why’re you just sitting in a tree?”

“Why’re you running through the forest trying to drink bad water?” the light green one asks, ignoring Mako’s question.

“I wasn’t… look, I’m busy. I have to help my brother.” He pushes himself up and grabs his backpack again.

“Why? Where is he?” the dark green one asks.

“He’s stuck. I guess that’s the best way to describe it,” Mako huffs.

“Like… in a ditch?” the light green one chirps.  
  
“No, not in a ditch!” Mako rolls his eyes. “He’s in a tree somewhere in here.”

“Get a ladder!” the boys suggest in unison.

“It isn’t that simple!” Mako lashes out and the boys take a step back together.

“We can help!” Dark Green offers.

“Why would you help me? You don’t even know who I am!” Mako squints curiously at them. “And I don’t know who you are!”

“I’m Wing!” the one with the rounder face and dark green tank top announces as he points to himself.

“And I’m Wei!” The other boy copies his movements. “Now you know us, so let us help!”

Mako looks between the two boys and knows he’s going to mess up their names later, but he doesn’t really care; he just wants to get his brother back.

“Fine,” He agrees after a moment. “I’m Mako and we’re going to rescue my brother, Bolin.”

Mako begins walking into the woods, striding confidently until he realizes he doesn’t hear the boys behind him. He turns to see them standing a few yards back, watching him from the place Mako just left.

“What?” he shouts to them.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Wei yells to him.

Mako opens his mouth to tell him that _of course he knows where he’s going_ before realizing he doesn’t. He’s lost with some weird brothers in a random forest and he thinks there’s a horror movie about this.

“No, I don’t,” he concedes and makes his way back over to them.

“Lucky for you…” Wing begins.

“... We can lead the way!” Wei finishes.

“If you guys keep doing that, I’ll kill you both,” Mako warns as he begins to follow the boys into the woods.

“So,” Wei asks, moving a tree branch out of the way so he can get by, “Do you remember any important, like, landmarks about where your brother is?”  
The branch Wei moved now flies back and hits Mako in the face. He frowns and rubs at his nose. “I don’t know, it’s all forest to me.”

“Ah, c’mon Hair Gel, you gotta remember something!” Wing turns back to smile at him, teasing.

Mako lightly touches his hair-- he didn’t think he used that much gel. He falls silent as he thinks back on the spot where Bolin was taken. “Oh!” he shouts and the boys pause to turn towards him. “There were a bunch of little mushroom circles? Like a dozen or so tiny circles of mushrooms lining the ring of trees.”

The other boys share a look with each other and Mako feels like he’s missing out on something, and it pisses him off.

“What is it?” he demands and crosses his arms.

“Is there… anything else that you’re leaving out?” Wei gently prods.

“Nothing sounds too crazy, y’know.” Wing adds.

He feels like they’re trying to coax something out of him, like they know he’s leaving out the pixies. He looks between the two of them and narrows his eyes.

“What are you guys talking about?” he asks.

The boys share a look and cross their arms in sync. “We just feel like there’s something being left out,” Wei says.

They all stare at each other for a few more moments before Mako rolls his eyes and sighs. “I’m gonna sound insane,” he begins and the boys instantly perk up, “But I saw… I saw pixies kidnap my brother.”

“Nice!” Wing reacts instantly and Wei smacks him in the stomach. “I mean, not nice but, y’know, at least we know what we’re dealing with.” Wing not so subtly high fives Wei, and then they turn and continue marching through the woods.

“You’re not gonna call me crazy or anything?” Mako frowns at them and rushes to keep up.

“Why would we?” Wei shoots him a look over his shoulder.

“Because saying I’ve seen pixies take my brother sounds crazy,” Mako admits.

Both boys make a sound dismissing that idea and Mako decides to just shut up and follow them as they go deeper into the forest. He adjusts his backpack a bit and thinks about the journal inside of it. Mentally he berates whoever wrote the book for not including instructions or a step-by-step plan for how to beat pixies, although he supposes he should be thankful the book exists at all. He snaps out of his thoughts when he hears Wing curse at a tree branch that hit the side of his head.

“Why!” Wing shouts at the branch and Mako thinks he sees the branch recoil from Wing, bending in an odd fashion to get out of his way.

He rubs his eyes a few times and when he opens them again, the branch looks as it did before Wing shouted. Mako chalks it up to being full of adrenaline and anxiety about his brother and continues on ahead.

**§**

He isn’t sure how long they walk for, but Mako’s feet hurt by the time he slams into the back of Wei on the edge of a clearing. He tries to walk up and past Wing at the front, but he’s blocked by Wing’s arm flying out in front of him.

“Mako.” His tone is serious and Mako’s stomach drops, “You do not walk out there first.” He doesn’t know why he trusts his words immediately, but he finds himself nodding along. Wing looks past Mako, to Wei, “Are ya ready?”

“Sure am,” Wei chimes up from behind him. Wing nods at both of them and Mako continues to feel like there’s more going on than he understands.

Wei warns him to watch his step as he follows Wing out into the clearing, and he carefully steps over the small ring of mushrooms, identical to the one Bolin crushed earlier.

“My brother crushed one of these earlier,” Mako points down at the mushrooms.

Wei’s mouth opens in what Mako at first thinks is surprise, but then learns it’s realization when he says, “Okay, yeah, I mean that isn’t good, but it makes sense now.”

“What does that mean!” Mako pleads.

Before Wei can reply, the soft flutter of wings fills the air, and once again the air shifts to show dozens of pixies in the trees. Mako’s eyes immediately scan his surroundings to find Bolin, and breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing him clinging to a branch a little too high up in a tree – at least he isn’t being dangled this time.

“Ah, you’re back,” Fayette materializes in front of Mako’s face. They then look at Wing and Wei and smile, “And you brought them.” The way they talk about Wing and Wei makes Mako think the three of them have met before.

“Yeah, he brought us, he knows extremely cool and tough power when he sees it!” Wing taunts.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Fayette deadpans and turns back to Mako, “Out of everything you could’ve run into here, you found them? I mean, in a way it works, but I would’ve preferred Su or literally anyone else.”

Wei groans and pulls Mako back so he can stand in front of him. “Listen, dude, just tell us what weird deal you tricked him into so that we can help and get you to let his brother go.”

“You two are the least cooperative.” Fayette pulls at their long hair with their tiny hands, and honestly, Mako thinks they look adorable. “I simply told my pal that if he found us power, we would give his brother back.”

“This again?” the boys say in unison, sounding exasperated.

“Again?!” Mako echoes and is shushed.

“You were stingy last time.” Fayette crosses their arms and shrugs. “Look, we didn’t want to involve you again, but it seems that fate, or rather a 12-year-old idiot, has other plans.”

The other pixies flutter their wings in agreement and Mako knows it’s wrong and maybe slightly insane, but he wants to catch one of them so badly. He looks up at Bolin and tries to give him a reassuring smile, but truthfully he's too high up and Mako can’t see his face all that well. He can, however, make out Bolin quickly letting go of the tree to wave down at them, and he feels slight relief.

“So how do you wanna do it this time?” Wing asks, turning Mako’s attention back to the conversation.

Fayette rolls their eyes and gives Mako a look like can-you-believe-this? “Same as last time, obviously.”

“Why not get creative with it!” Wei encourages, “Maybe use a rock! Or a squirrel!” Wing nods along with him.

“Please, for the love of everything living on this earth, just do it the way we did this before.” Fayette’s voice sounds dangerously close to begging.

Wing and Wei each kneel next to a mushroom ring before gently placing a hand in the center, and closing their eyes. Mako watches, mouth falling open slightly, as grass wraps around their hands and begin to pulsate from dark to light green. The pixies around him faintly glow in time with the grass, and something about them seems more real now. Fayette floats in the air, head back, with a slight smile on their face and a silvery glow around them.

Suddenly, both boys open their eyes at the same time, and for a moment, their eyes look entirely white. Before Mako can really get a good look, though, they both blink and their eyes are back to normal. The grass slides off their hands, and the pixies cease to glow. When they stand up, Mako notices the grass is lighter where they had their hands, leaving faint handprints behind.

“All souped up?” Wing pipes as he rubs his grassy palm on his shorts.

Fayette frowns at him, “Yes… we are ‘souped up’.” They’ve returned back to their regular dark blue.

“Then you wouldn’t mind giving me my brother back?” Mako points up into the trees.

“Of course!” Fayette grins and turns towards Bolin.

“Gently!” Wei adds at the last second. “Bring him down gently.” Fayette’s grin turns into pursed lips and a heavy sigh.

Within seconds Bolin is safely set on the ground in front of him. Mako surges forward and wraps him in a tight hug, clinging as hard as he can to his brother. Bolin tries to hug him back, but his arms can’t fully wrap around his backpack and also his face is being squished into a shoulder strap.

“You have your brother, we have our power. You’re a fine boy.” They look Mako in the eye and he feels something akin to electricity run through him for a second. Fayette’s voice sounds louder and feels more solid now. “Be well, Bolin. You were a good pawn.” They nod at Bolin.

“Uh… thanks?” Bolin shrugs as he separates himself from Mako. “I’d say ‘anytime’ but I don’t want to do that again.”

“We’ll see,” Fayette winks and Mako doesn’t care for it one bit. Then they turn to the boys. “And you two. This was the quickest run-in we’ve had, I can only hope they’ll be like this in the future.” The boys both shake their heads, “Tell your mother we say hello.” And with that, they all disappear, leaving only the four boys in the small ring of trees.

It’s silent for a moment as each of them tries to think of something to say until Bolin blurts, “Mako, where did you find twins in the woods?”

“Twins? How do you know they’re twins?” Mako raises an eyebrow at Bolin.

Bolin gives him a blank look, and then uses both hands to gesture to the other boys. “They look exactly the same!” Mako frantically looks between the two boys.

“Wait you didn’t know we’re twins?” Wing laughs.

Mako feels his face heat up slightly. “It’s not my fault! I’m normally very observant and quick, I was just stressed today.” Nobody seems convinced and he deflates a bit.

“Speaking of brothers,” Wei chimes in, “It’s nice to meet the boy we’ve spent the day looking for.” He smiles at Bolin and Bolin gives a small wave back. “I’m Wei, and this is my twin, Wing.”

“I’m Bolin, which you probably already know.” He gives a nervous laugh and Mako narrows his eyes at him. “Thanks for uh, keeping my brother alive.” He lightly punches Wei in the shoulder.

Wei returns the gentle hit and says, “It was no problem. The hardest part was the brooding.”

Mako doesn’t want to listen to three people talk about his tween angst, so he loudly clears his throat and kicks at the ground.

“I’m pretty tired, I guess we should go home.” He shifts the weight of his backpack around a bit uncomfortably. “Right, Bo?”

Bolin slumps forward a little bit as if just hearing Mako say he was tired made the events of the day catch up with him. “Yeah. I could use a nap.”

“Can you guys get back okay?” Wing asks.

“Yeah, it’s just a straight shot back that way,” Mako points in the direction he remembers walking from the first time.

“Get home safe, guys. And if you’re ever bored or anything, Wing and I will probably be just hanging out in the woods if you wanna give us a yell,” Wei offers, looking between the two of them, but mostly at Bolin with the kindest smile Mako has seen all day.

“Or just follow our brother home one day!” Wing proposes.

Mako just nods, despite not knowing who their brother could be, desperate to just get home now. He and Bolin say their goodbyes and walk back to the shack. Bo spends most of the time talking about the pixies and the food they tried to give him and Mako just nods along, relieved he has him back.

**§**

Later that night, after Bolin is asleep and the only sounds he can hear are the floorboards creaking and the forest doing whatever it does, Mako takes out a pen from his backpack and adds to the page about pixies, hoping he never has to look at the page again, but better safe than sorry. He flips through the book one more time and catches a glimpse of a page talking about ghosts and some haunted manor. He still isn’t sure ghosts are real, but who knows?

He tucks the journal away for the night and closes his eyes as he falls asleep to the sound of Bolin’s breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me a hot sec to get it done bc I was so Stressed abt life n things but it's DONE and I'll update w/the third chapter faster!! anyway wu comes in next chapter so he is Coming ok that's all!! my tumblr is hotrod2007 thank u kudos n comments r appreciated bc I like validation ok have a good day mwah

**Author's Note:**

> thank u to @eastaustraliancurrent for being my gravity falls au buddy n brainstorming n reading through my stuff for me I love u with all my heart!!


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